but they always seem over stuffed and within ten minutes my girls seem to find a way to have everything dumped all over the floor.
I bought several clear bins at the Container Store to help me tackle the toys. After doing some serious down sizing (when the girls weren’t around, of course) I categorized everything in groups.
{animals and dinosaurs – Ellie went through a dinosaur phase when she was three}
{barbies, cooties, and magnetic dolls}
{little people, polly pockets and their clothes}
{doll clothes}
{and I already had this little suitcase for barbie clothes}
Isn’t this a beautiful sight! Everything so neat and tidy and organized. Kole loves our Container Store purchases almost as much as I do. He wanted to label everything, but I explained to him that there was no need. I bought clear bins so that the girls could easily see which toys were in each container.
Another thing I love about these particular bins is that they are stackable without the lids. A great option if I choose to store them this way in the future. They also make a great peek-a-boo tower as demonstrated by Ellie and Kole. :)
For now I am storing these beauty’s in some extra space I realized I had at the bottom of the girls’ closet. Making the most of what was unused space before. This is a great spot for toys because it is easily accessible. When organizing toys I’m always thinking about how I can keep them easy for the kids to get into and easy for them to clean up when play time is over.
I’m really liking this system so far! It seems to have even changed the way my girls play. They pull out a bin (or I pull one out for them when we are going to be home for awhile) and actually stay focused playing with one group of toys instead of just pulling out one toy after another and not really playing with any of it. Funny how just re-arranging toys in a different way makes them seem like new. Clean up is easy. Toss everything back in its container.
And now I have more room in the playroom bins for paper, coloring books, stickers, etc. so the girls can create a masterpiece when inspired. Or at least keep themselves entertained long enough for me to feed Kole and do a load of laundry which was my true objective.
But masterpieces are always appreciated. :)
